updated 09:29 am EDT, Wed July 24, 2013

Pricing in smartphone crowdfunding effort an attempt to maintain momentum

Canonical has updated the crowdfunding campaign for its Ubuntu-powered mobile device, after considerable success in its opening days, in an attempt to maintain momentum. After breaking the $4 million barrier and selling out of the 5000-unit allocation at the initial $600 level, the company has updated its Indiegogo campaign to offer a large array of pledge levels for the Ubuntu Edge smartphone.

An update on the campaign, spotted byOMG Ubuntu, shows new tiers at $625, $675, and $725, each with a 1,250-unit limit. A chart supplied at the time of the update shows that after the 1,250 allocation at $775, the price will rise slower but with a greater unit limit, with the $830 original tier having an unlimited capacity. Another extra tier offers two Ubuntu Edge units at a discounted $1,400, while the "One of a Kind" VIP tier for $10,000 and the $80,000 100-unit bundle options from its initial launch are still available.

The Ubuntu Edge is said to use an unnamed multi-core processor with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. It will be able to dual-boot to Ubuntu and Android when used as a smartphone, but will also run the desktop version of Ubuntu when docked with a monitor and peripherals. It will also have a 4.5-inch, 1280x720 display with sapphire crystal protection, an eight-megapixel low-light rear camera, and dual LTE antennas.

The project has to raise $32 million by August 21st to receive its funding. At the time of writing, the total has passed $4.25 million.